The almanac

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Saturn and Mercury. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs in 1855; historians Ida Tarbell in 1857 and Will Durant in 1885; inventor and industrialist Raymond Loewy, the "father of streamlining," in 1893; band leader Jan Garber in 1894; movie singing cowboy star Roy Rogers in 1911; entertainers Ike Turner in 1931 and Art Garfunkel in 1941 (age 67); actresses Vivien Leigh in 1913, Elke Sommer in 1940 (age 68) and Tatum O'Neal in 1963 (age 45); dramatist/actor Sam Shepard in 1943 (age 65); and pop singer/songwriter Bryan Adams in 1959 (age 49).

On this date in history:

In 1605, Guy Fawkes and fellow conspirators attempted to blow up the English Parliament and failed. They were beheaded.

In 1733, German-born publisher John Peter Zenger began printing The New York Weekly Journal in opposition to the British colonial administration.

In 1854, combined British-French forces scored a decisive victory over the Russians in the Crimea.

In 1930, the first commercial television broadcast was aired.

In 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected to an unprecedented third term.

In 1990, an Egyptian-born gunman, apparently acting alone, assassinated Meir Kahane, the U.S. native who founded the militant Jewish Defense League.

Also in 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an order requiring the U.S. Army to permit homosexuals to re-enlist.

In 1991, the body of British media mogul Robert Maxwell was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands.

Also in 1991, Kiichi Miyazawa was formally appointed prime minister of Japan, succeeding Toshiki Kaifu.

In 1992, former U.S. world chess champion Bobby Fischer triumphed in his $5 million rematch against Russian arch-rival Boris Spassky.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton was re-elected, defeating Republican challenger Bob Dole.

In 2002, Republicans seized control of the U.S. Senate and retained their hold on the House, giving President George Bush a historic victory in mid-term elections that traditionally go against the incumbent president.

In 2003, fearing a regional military imbalance, the United States supplied Thailand with air-to-air missiles.

In 2004, Saskatchewan became the seventh Canadian province to allow same-sex couples to marry.

In 2005, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said there was no doubt the United States had been given false information in order to support the war in Iraq.

Also in 2005, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces engaged in a fight against al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq near the Syrian border.

In 2006, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, 69, faced death by hanging after his conviction in Baghdad in a yearlong trial for the 1982 slaughter of 148 Shiite boys and men in the village of Dujail. The sentence was upheld on appeal and was carried out on Dec. 30.

In 2007, Hollywood writers went on strike against producers, networks and studios, despite last-minute talks aimed at averting a walkout.

A thought for the day: inventor and industrialist Raymond Loewy said, "Between two products equal in price, function and quality, the better looking will out sell the other."

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